CRW:WritingDialogue1

WritingDialogue

Dialoguecanbeagreatadditiontoanystory.Itbringscharacterstogetherin

scene,itdramatizesaction,anditmovesthestoryforwardwhilecharactersreveal

whotheyare.

Ifdialogueisnotformattedproperly,itcanbeverydifficulttoread.Wewant

tomakeourstoriesvisuallyorganizedforreaders,andthismeansincluding

quotationmarks,endpunctuation,dialoguetags,capitalization,andindentationsin

theappropriateplaceswhentwoormorecharactersconverse.

1.QuotationMarks

Quotationmarkssurroundthewordsbeingspoken.

“Hi.”

“Doyouhaveapencil?”

2.DialogueTags

Dialoguetagsusuallyoccurrightafterwordshavebeenspoken,though,rarely,they

precedespeech.Theseareusuallyhesaidorsheaskedafterastatementhasbeen

madeoraquestionhasbeenasked.

“Willyoupleasedothedishes?”heasked.

“Idon’tknowwhattostudyfirst,”shesaid.

Hesaid,“Idon’tcare,”butIknowthatwasalie.

Tocontinuedialogueafteratag,aslongasitisspokenbythesameperson,youcan

juststartanewspokensentenceinquotationmarks,likethis:

“It’seasy,”Jaimesaid.“Allyouneedtodoispedal.”

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3.EndPunctuation

Endpunctuationoccursintwoplacesindialogue:oncebeforethequotationmarks

endandonceafterthedialoguetagends.Therearesomerulesforcapitalization

thatmaybeunexpected.

“Ilovewriting,”hesaid.Normally,“Ilovewriting”isasentencethatwouldbewrittenwithaperiodatthe

end.However,whenyouwritedialogueandadialoguetagfollowsthespoken

sentence,theperiod(andonlytheperiod!)changestoacomma.Herearesome

moreexamples:

“Ialwaysstartmydaywithaglassoforangejuice,”shesaid. “I’mnotamorningperson,”hesaid. “Chimpanzeesarethebestanimals,”hesaid.Ineachofthesestatements,theperiodthatwouldnormallyfallattheendofthe

sentencehasbeenchangedtoacomma.Thinkofitlikethis:thesentencedoesnot

enduntilthedialoguetagends.

4.Capitalization

Thesentencedoesnotenduntilthedialoguetagends.Thisruleapplies

inaslightlydifferentwayifyoursentencewouldnotnormallyendwithaperiod.

Ifyoursentencewouldnaturallyendwithaquestionmarkoranexclamation

point,thatendpunctuationstaysinthedialogue.Youdonotneedtoreplacethe

quotationmarkorexclamationpointwithacomma.

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However,the,unlessyou’reusingapropernoun,thefirstletterofthe

dialoguetagdoesnotgetcapitalized—why?Thesentencedoesnotenduntilthe

dialoguetagends.

“Howmanyclownsfitinsideyourcar?”sheasked.Noticethatinthisexamplethe“s”in“she”hasnotbeencapitalized.Technically,the

dialoguetagservesasthesentence’ssubjectandverb.Whosaidthis?Shedid.How

wasthisstated?Thequestionwasasked.

“Howdoyoumakeanelephantfloat?”heasked. “Whatfamousperson,livingordead,wouldyouinvitetodinner?”sheasked. “Whatadarlingnecklace!”Pearlsaid.5.IndentationTwoRulesofIndentationinDialogue:

1.Wheneveradifferentcharacterspeaks,acts,orthinks,startanewline,

andindentthatnewline.

2.Ifaspokensentenceanditsdialoguetagrunlongerthanoneline,the

second,third,andanyotherlinesshouldnotbeindented.Onlythefirstlinefrom

eachdifferentcharactershouldbeindented.

“Howareyoudoing?”Stephanieasked. “I’mokay,”Joshsaid. “Doyouthinkyou’regoingtofinishyourworkontime?”TayloraskedJosh. “I’mnotsure,butI’mgoingtotry,”Joshsaid. Stephanieputherbackpackonandloosenedtheshoulderstrapstoaccommodatetheaddedweightofallofherbooks.“I’mgoinghometostartright

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now,”shesaid. TaylorsighedwhileStephaniewalkedaway.“Youknow,agameofkickballmighthelpusconcentrate,”hesuggested. “Awesome,man.” “Let’sdoit.”

Noticethatattheendofthisdialogue,afterStephanieleftthescene,Ileftthe

dialoguetagsandnamesoutofthedialogue.Thisisbecause,withonlytwo

characters,itisclearwhoisspeakingwhen.Youmaywanttoremindyouraudience

whoistalkingeverysooften,justtomakesureyourreadersdon’tgetconfused.